Samart yesterday officially debuted SECUREiNFO, its “total cybersecurity solution provider”, operating under its flagship ICT solutions provider Samart Telcoms.

The SECUREiNFO service portfolio offers managed security services, cybersecurity risk assessments and cybersecurity consulting, along with security education and training.

For the managed security service, the company’s cybersecurity operation centre has partnered with IBM Security, a business unit of IBM, on an exclusive basis to offer what they say is a world-class cybersecurity service on a 24-hour basis.

The centre is drawing on the IBM AI, namely “Watson”, and also IBM’s threat intelligence system, as key tools in the service.

Samart’s president Watchai Vilailuck said yesterday that Samart aims the new unit to be in the top three cybersecurity solutions providers within five years.

The cost of the new company’s development is Bt200 million. Its launch is in line with the rising global threat from cyberattacks as the world, including Thailand, becomes increasingly digitalised.

Worldwide spending on cybersecurity systems last year reached above US$100 billion (Bt3.3 trillion). Such spending in Thailand this year is estimated at $240 million, with forecast yearly growth of 12 per cent.

State agencies will be the initial target of the company’s services, says Watchai.

Yesterday Watchai invited potential customers from state and private sectors to visit the centre.

“We expect to secure between 10 to 20 customers next year,” he said, adding that SECUREiNFO hopes for revenues of between Bt50 million and Bt100 million in the next couple of years.

Chowalit Tinnagonsutibout, SECUREiNFO’s head of cybersecurity operations, said that instead of heavily investing their own money in cybersecurity facilities, organisations could save costs by outsourcing the task to his company.

Among the companies making this leap is Sats Ltd, which uses a small cargo robot, known as an automated guided vehicle (AGV), that can follow company staff on their rounds supplying food to airlines lounges in Singapore’s Changi International Airport.

“It makes the job much easier and fun,” said Tan Yen Ling, manager public affairs and branding at Sats, which provides gateway services and food services in the airport.

Making use of so-called follow me technology from Japan, the AGV can recognise the legs of an operator when he or she walks and begins to follow automatically. The machine operator does not need to push or drag the robot, which is power by electricity.

Exploiting this concept, the company is testing new kinds of wheelchairs that can follow each other. One worker can control several wheelchairs at the same time. This innovation can save on costs and time when air passengers need wheelchairs to get on and off a plane.

Currently, only one worker can handle a wheelchair at the same time. The follow me technology will boost productivity, Tan said.

The company is also introducing virtual and augmented reality technology to help train new workers on aspects of ground control operations.

Wahid Spyke Allapitchay, who owns the Task Tish Tosh restaurant in the popular tourist district of Kampng Glam, said that he began digitalising his restaurant business three to four months ago.

“My restaurant is small and has only a few tables, so my task is to get more customers and serve customers their food faster ,” he said. Toolang dishes, based around bone marrow, are the most items on the menu at his food shop.

Under the old practice, the customers would come in and waiters take the orders, which ended up on two pieces of paper – one for the chef and the other for the front counter.

With the new system, customers can order electronically, resulting in a saving of seven minutes – a lot for a restaurant operator, Allapitchay said

When his staff are not busy they go on social media and act as brand ambassadors to promote the restaurant, he said.

Saeid Labbafi, chairman of One Kampong Gelam Association (OKG) and owner of a carpet shop, has also digitalised his business. He said it increased sales and customers can also buy online, swayed by the presentation of a story behind each unique piece of carpet.

He also plans to incorporate virtual and augmented reality technologies into his business as these capabilities would allow potential buyers to match carpets with the furnishings and furniture in their rooms before buying.

Allapitchay and Labbafi are the among shop owners who have participated in “Kampong Glam: Singapore’s First Digitally enabled Retail Neighbourhood”. The project is supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Enterprise Singapore (ESG), the Singapore Malay Chambers of Commerce and Industry (SMCCI), OKG and industry partners.

Kampong Glam is traditional neighbourhood rich in culture and heritage and is one of Singapore’s major tourist hot spots.

There are about 600 shops in Kampong Glam; so far, 180 have joined the project, which started in November last year, according to the SMCCI.

The digitalisation project promotes cashless payment and enhances merchants’ presence on Google Maps to improve their discoverability. To service visitor betters, a self-guided story-telling and discovery experiential mobile app is also available. An app for integrated logistics solutions is also available for merchants. Moreover, integrated point-of-sales system will enable merchants to manage accounting, customer relations management and inventory management in a seamless and co-ordinated way the SMCCI said.

The company expects to distribute 50 of the robots, called Relay, within the next three years. It also plans to bring out in-house robotics for the Thai market next year.

Songtham Phianattanawit, managing director of IoT business at True Corporation, said that the robotics industry in Thailand is an emerging market. The firm has joined with Savioke, which developed the autonomous robot, and is the sole distributor in Thailand.

The firm in the first step is providing the Relay robot, which is targeted at operators requiring delivery services in sectors such as hotels, premium condominiums, service apartments, high-rise buildings, hospitals, logistics, and manufacturing with assembly line operations.

The Relay robot is 90 cm high, 60 cm wide and 40 kg in weight. It moves smoothly in indoor environments and has a working time of around fours hours before its battery runs out.

“I think that the robotics business will help us expand our Internet of things (IoT) solutions to the market. We have around 10 IoT solutions available in the market such as for smart city, smart logistics and smart services solutions to support the market nationwide,” said Songtham.

He said that the firm will provide robots in the market for sale and rent. The robot will be priced around Bt1 million per unit.

For the rental services, prices start from Bt30,000 a month and up to Bt100,000, depending on customers’ needs.

He said that the firm by the end of this year expects to generate revenue from its business unit of around Bt1 billion. Of the 50 or so robots that the company expects to distribute over the next three years in Thailand, around 90 per cent of them will be rented out. The firm is also interested in investing in Savioke at a later stage.

Matthew Festo, senior director, partnerships and sales for US-based Savioke, said Thailand is the second country in Southeast Asia, after Singapore, where it is providing its robots.

Teerapon Tanomsakyut, chief innovation and sustainability officer at True Corporation, said that the firm began developing in-house robots three years ago and has invested more than Bt20 million into the project. It plans to come out with a new robot for the Thai market next year.

Warut Suttinan, managing director of Technicalbiomed Co Ltd, an importer and distributor of aesthetic medical devices in Thailand, said: “Thailand is now recognised as a hub of beauty in Asia. The markets for both innovations and cosmeceuticals are growing. In 2017, the medical devices market had a total value of more than Bt1.6 billion, which rose at least 6 per cent in 2018. Each year, many foreigners come to Thailand for the service, and as a result the aesthetic market in Thailand is continually growing.

“The definition of aesthetics in the future will shift from taking care only of the external appearance to overall health-consciousness, focusing on the restoration of inner health and overall wellbeing. The drift is already taking place. You can notice that many clinics have started to make some changes in the services they offer, such as hair transplants, feminine health, snoring solutions and stem-cell therapy. These services are very popular in the United States and Europe. Though, Thailand is still early in the game, these services project the market trend in Thailand, and soon these innovations will play an important role in our everyday lives,” he added.

According to Warut, Technicalbiomed has utilised the direct sales model via clinics and hospitals in the past. It is very important to have a qualified physician test the device to see if it works with Thai people’s skin type before presenting it to customers. Meanwhile, cosmetics brand Dermo28, which was brought to Thailand by Technicalbiomed, has also has been receiving a good feedback and has started expanding its market by targeting elite spas and hotel chains.

Technicalbiomed’s growth rate is around 10 per cent per year and it is expected that total sales this year will be around Bt100 million.

The company has also started expanding in the plastic surgery segment to include liposuction and fat graft, hair transplants and gynaecology. It also plans to extend its distribution via a digital platform by adding new business models.

It is also announcing the appointment of teen idol, Itthipat “God” Thanit, as Skechers’ Thailand brand presenter. He is helping introduce the Skechers Concept Store at Central World.

“We are delighted to present D’Lites 3.0, an updated version of the classic D’Lites and its timeless design, to a new generation of young Thais,” said Vincent Leung, regional president of Skechers. “It’s a trend driven take on the original D’Lites that features an oversize, chunky outsole that comes in a striking black, white and green.”

Itthipat, an actor and model, is fully in line with Skechers’ young, trendy brand image via the store on Central World’s third floor in Zone B.

 With an investment of more than Bt80 million, the group has kicked off “The Power of Real Men” promotional initiative. The campaign has a new commercial entitled “Unleash a Bull’s Force”, which is aimed at working consumers who are fans of the energy drink brand.

The campaign’s objective is to encourage people to overcome life’s challenges and obstacles as they move towards the goals they have set themselves, in the hope that it will help bring the market for energy drinks back to its sensational best during the last quarter of 2018.

Surachai Chonglertvarawong, TCP Group’s Thailand country director, said: “To renew brand awareness and get the energy drinks market back to exciting sales levels during the last quarter of 2018, we have invested over Bt80 million in a major campaign to bid farewell to the year.

“As part of our campaign, we have launched the ‘Unleash a Bull’s Force’ commercial to reinforce Krating Daeng’s position as a brand that reaches out to and understands its customer target group. We target working people aged between 25 and 40.

“Krating Daeng is also inviting consumers to take part in an exciting sweepstakes worth over Bt1 million, initiated to help fans’ cost of living and give back to supporters. The first prize is a Toyota Revo pickup truck worth Bht 679,000.”

“Everybody can participate by simply adding ‘Krating Daeng’ on Line Official and texting a code found under the bottle-caps of the products via Line Official, which is free of charge from today until January 24th, 2019,” Surachai said.

“The ‘Unleash a Bull’s Force’ commercial is part of ‘The Power of real Men’ campaign, which forms the heart of our principal communication strategy to encourage working heroes to keep working hard and unleash the bullish force inside them, because we realize that many people have to face obstacles in their lives. In particular, there are those who work hard for a better life.

“We at Krating Daeng believe that everybody possesses an inner force. It’s simply a matter of time for this hero force shows itself. That’s why we want to give people encouragement. That’s why we campaign for people to overcome life problems and obstacles as they move towards the goals they have set themselves. With the concept of ‘unleash the force of a bull within you’, we encourage people to try and overcome the obstacles they face every day with their inner hero energy. We want people to persevere in the face of all obstacles. We want everybody to get ready to confront and defeat every obstacle in order to eventually become The Power of Real Men,” Surachai added.

Thailand’s energy drinks market is around Bt22,000 million in value. Considering the campaign, TCP Group is confident that by the end of 2018, Krating Daeng will grow in contrast to the overall market trend.

The campaign will also contribute to the strength of the energy drinks category as TCP Group moves towards projected sales of Bt100,000 million in an effort to be one of Thailand’s noteworthy companies on the world stage.

To build awareness of its brands in the Thai market and abroad, marketing activities were rolled out on multiple platforms based on the diverse lifestyles of its target consumers, Kosit said. New products were also introduced to the markets, leading to a favourable performance of the group.

Chang continued to be the top-of-mind brand for three years running, based on a study by global market research company IPSOS. It also delivered a superb online performance, having secured “Best Brand Performance” award in the Beverage (Alcohol) category for “Chang World” Facebook page at Thailand Social Awards 2018. The page currently has 1,487,661 followers.

Moreover, the brand won two international awards this year: Chang Beer and Chang Natural Mineral Water were honoured with a Gold Quality Award 2018 in Beers, Waters & Soft Drinks category by Monde Selection; and Chang Beer received a Silver award at World Beer Championships 2018 by Tastings.com.

The two recent awards reaffirmed its internationally-recognised quality and taste, adding to an earlier recognition of Chang Beer late last year as Thailand Country Winner in Lager Beer category at World Beer Awards 2017.

All these achievements resulted from the philosophy of Thai craftsmanship – Lamiat – in every work process, from product development to packaging and branding to make it the favourite brand in Thailand and abroad, the company said.

Chang communicated this commitment through its global campaign with “Lamiat” concept. As well, it created experiential marketing activities to engage Thai and international consumers on numerous platforms across areas of interests, including sports, food, music, and lifestyle, the company added.

In Thailand, these activities included its continued focus on football marketing. As an active supporter of the game, Chang was a key sponsor to bring live broadcast of 2018 FIFA World Cup matches to Thai audience, plus a virtual stadium created for football fans to enjoy watching the game during this tournament.

The brand is an official sponsor of Thailand’s national football team and 23 football clubs in the Thai League.

In the international football scene, Chang is the Official Beer Partner of Leicester City FC, which gives it an international brand exposure and continue to strengthen the national pride in this Thai beer.

In food and dining, Chang reiterated itself as a perfect match for all cuisines through food festivals held in Thailand and overseas, such as Chang Sensory Trails and Food Park.

A video series ‘Alungkarn Jarn Chang” was also produced for online broadcasting, seeing the hosts travelling across Thailand in search of great dishes. To complete consumers’ experiences by means of music, Chang connected people via Chang Music Connection concerts and broadened their world of music with world-class deejays and top artists at many memorable Chang Carnival events.

The brand also continued to establish itself internationally, including markets like Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Hong Kong and United Kingdom.

Federbräu received great response from its target consumers following the release of redesigned packages and labels in favour of a more contemporary, more premium look. The brand won two international awards: a Silver Quality Award 2018 in Beers, Waters & Soft Drinks category by Monde Selection and a Gold award at World Beer Championships 2018 by Tastings.com.

Earlier in late 2017, it was recognised as Thailand Country Winner in Lager Beer – German Style Pale category at World Beer Awards 2017 and won a Design and Packaging award at International Beer Challenge 2017.

The brand’s achievements can be attributed to its successful branding, product development, and lively marketing campaigns targeted directly at premium beer consumers, such as a collaboration with What The Duck music label to feature their artists in Federbräu’s Smoothness Society campaign, the company said.

Towards the end of this year, Federbräu has two world-class happenings on slate, namely Oktoberfest and Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB), which marks the first time the art exhibition Biennale comes to Thailand.

ThaiBev Beer Product Group also launched Tapper Original X-Tra this year to strengthen its brand portfolio further. The brand is distinctively positioned as a new lager beer with high alcohol content of 6.5 per cent. Combined with contemporary package design, it garnered positive response from the consumers, as evident from the feedback on online social media.

“ThaiBev Beer Product Group will keep its marketing lively with a consistent flow of fresh experiences created for the consumers. We will continue to drive our growth in Thailand and internationally while introducing innovations to the markets on a regular basis, starting with a special collection of Chang Beer that reflects our high craftsmanship in every production process and only the best offerings to our consumers. This special collection will be released for the New Year festival. From Federbräu, a new, premium German wheat beer Federbräu Weissbier will be introduced. We believe the responses will be great as previously,” Kosit said.

ThaiBev Beer Product Group has already established itself as the leading brewer in Southeast Asia following the company’s acquisition of Vietnam-based Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corp (Sabeco) late last year.